Psychosis: Understanding and Treatment / Edition 1

by Jane Ellwood

Overview

Bringing together a number of pioneering thinkers and workers ni the field of psychosis, this book provides an interrogation of 'official theories' surrounding schizophrenia and examines the range of ways in which psychosis can be thought about and worked with.

The first part of the book, which deals with the meaning of psychosis, presents papers on the development of psychosis from historical, social, theoretical and emotional perspectives. It explains current psychoanalytical ideas of the meaning of psychosis and looks at the ways in which psychoanalytic theorists have found meaning in the commuications of psychotic patients.

The more clinically oriented papters in the second part of the book focus on the treatment of psychosis. These describe ongoing work in therpeutic settings with people diagnosed as being schizophrenic, as well as the effects on staff working with psychotic patients.

This is an encouraging and stimulating book for students and professionals int he field of psychosis, who often feel isolated in their efforts to understand their patients.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781853022654
Publisher:	Jessica Kingsley Publishers
Publication date:	07/01/1995
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	5.98(w) x 9.02(h) x (d)

About the Author

Jane Ellwood is a psychotherapist at the Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture and at Immigrant Counselling and Psychotherapy (ICAP).

Table of Contents

Part 1. Understanding. 1. Learning to Think About Schizoid Thinking, Murray Jackson. 2. Manfred Bleuler and the Understanding of Psychosis, Peter Barham. 3. The Ubiquity of Psychotic Anxieties, Robert M. Young. 4. Schizophrenia: A Constructive Analogy or a Convenient Construct? Richard Marshall. 5. Knowledge and its Pretenders: Bion's Contribution to Knowledge and Thought, D. L. Bell. 6. Murderousness in Relationship to Psychotic Breakdown (Madness), Arthur Hyatt Williams. 7. Psychosis: The Sacrifice that Fails? E. M. Armstrong-Perlman. Part 2. Treatment. 8. Working with Psychotic Processes in Art Therapy, Katherine Killick. 9. Psychotic Interventions in the Arbours Crisis Centre, Joseph H. Berke. 10. Breaking and Entering in Phantasy and Fact, Christopher Cordess. 11. The Return from Mindlessness, Kenneth Sanders. 12. Individual Psychoanalytical Psychotherarpy with Severly and Profoundly Handicapped Patients, Valerie Sinason. 13. The Management of Projective Identification in the Treatment of a Borderline Psychotic Patient, M. Fakhry Davids. List of Contributors. Index.

Editorial Reviews

It is interesting to see how serious mental illness is addressed by psychotherapy and psychoanalytical writers, in the light of the recent government policy and legislation relating to this group - this book is commendable for its recognition of the demands on people working therapeutically with psychotic patients: something often overlooked in service delivery. Chapter 12 on psychodynamic work with people with learning difficulties, is both inspiring and groundbreaking - this book is a useful text for those who are starting out or developing their work with people with psychosis - It may also be of use to students on diploma and degree courses, offering interesting challenges to traditional thinking and non-psychodynamic approaches to working with psychosis.

Mental Health Nursing

The book is a timely and thoughtful contribution to psychotherapeutic work with people who have serious mental disorders... This book offers sustenance of a kind that will be welcome to the people who have found the courage to continue psychiatric work in difficult times and circumstances... The people who have contributed chapters have an impressive range of clinical experience.

Inscape (The Journal of the British Association of Art Therapists)

Pioneering thinkers in the field of psychosis question the official theories surrounding schizophrenia and examine the range of ways of dealing with psychosis. They address the development of psychosis from historical, social, and emotional perspectives, explain current ideas of the meaning of psychosis, and look at the ways in which theorists have found meaning in the communications of psychotic patients. Clinically oriented papers describe treatment in therapeutic settings, case vignettes, and staff issues. For students and professionals. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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